Holy Cross School history

In 1837 the Congregation of Holy Cross was founded.

Holy Cross School enjoys a distinction of being the second oldest sustained foundation worldwide in the Congregation of Holy Cross, second only to the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, founded in 1842.

The cornerstone was put in place with great solemnity on June 21, 1843 and on the second day of November, with six students aged 9 to 19, the first classes were held.

On May 18, 1849, Brother Vincent Pieau wrote to Moreau:

In spite of very limited finances, the College was beginning to grow until in the summer of 1852 a catastrophic fire destroyed it.

Funds were raised to rebuild the College, and in 1853, it opened for the second time.

In 1859 the congregation purchased Reynes Farm, a riverfront plantation.

The Daughters of Charity founded Holy Cross School in 1862 as an orphanage.

In 1879, as the need for an orphanage diminished, St Isidore’s College, a boarding and day school was opened.

In 1895 the original administration building was erected for $15,000, and at the suggestion of the Archbishop Francis Janssens, St Isidore’s College was renamed and solemnly dedicated Holy Cross College.

September 14, 1911: The Sisters of St Joseph are entrusted with the education of the 113 students who arrive when Holy Cross School opened its doors; three weeks later enrollment reaches 130.

Expansion of the facilities soon became imperative and in 1912, two wings were added to the main building and a gymnasium was built to accommodate the steady increase of students.

1919: School enrollment grows to over 300 students.

1920’s: Enrollment grows even higher to 400 students; however, the opening of two new parishes nearby reduce the school’s numbers to near 200.

In 1926, the parish built a structure on High Street and a co-educational day school was established for Grades 1 - 12.

In 1943 the Daughters of Charity left Santa Cruz and turned over their teaching activities to the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan, who lived in the former Henry Willey home at the corner of Mission and Sylvar Streets.

These buildings were left vacant after the opening of the High Street structure, but were torn down in 1944.

In 1945 the Holy Cross alma mater was introduced.

In 1954, a new building with classroom facilities, science labs, a library, and a cafeteria was erected to meet the needs of the growing student body.

In 1966, Archbishop O’Brien announced that an all-boys Catholic school would open in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Groundbreaking was held on May 5, 1967 on thirty-one acres in Waterbury’s West End on Oronoke Road.

325 boys were the first students when Holy Cross High School officially opened its doors on October 7, 1968.

The reason given by the league president was, “Holy Cross is not a member of the CIAC.” Holy Cross was in the process of applying for the accreditation needed before the school could join the CIAC. In May 1970, Holy Cross once again applied for membership in the NVL and once again was rejected.

In 1972 the boarding school was discontinued and the middle school opened.

However, due to a series of unforeseen events, the merger was effective September 1975.

A planned merger with Waterbury Catholic High School was scheduled to occur in 1976.

In 1980, Brother Harold Hathaway, CSC was appointed the fourth Principal of Holy Cross.

1989: Holy Cross faculty and school community begins work on Middle States accreditation, a process of self-study and self-improvement.

1993: Holy Cross School achieves its first accreditation by Middle States Association.

1996: Physical education classes begin in the gym of the nearby Lutheran Theological Seminary.

In 1997, Holy Cross High School became one of the first schools of its kind to introduce block scheduling into the school day.

2004: Holy Cross School is granted re-accreditation after school faculty and school community engage in a self-study to develop an Action Plan for the future.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans devastating the original school complex at 4950 Dauphine Street.

As the first new Catholic school in the Rockford Diocese in over 30 years, Holy Cross Catholic School opened its doors in August of 2008.

2009: To enhance communication among school families and the faculty and staff, Holy Cross launches a new website for the school as well as individual sites for all of the teachers.

2010: Holy Cross celebrates 100 years of Catholic Education in Mount Airy.

2013: Holy Cross becomes an Independence Mission School and joins a network of 15 Catholic schools located throughout Philadelphia.

The school administration also grew and evolved upon President Timothy McDonald’s retirement in 2015.

2016: Holy Cross is celebrating 105 years in the Mount Airy community and flourishing as an Independence Mission School (IMS), welcoming over 250 students.

Since 2020, the school community has maneuvered its way through the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic.